Open banking service subscriptions surpass 20 million

The number of open banking service subscriptions in Korea has surpassed 20 million, more than 70 percent of the nation’s economically active population, reflecting rapid expansion across the finance sector, authorities said Monday. Launched in December 2019, open banking services enable bank customers to use banking services of different banks via a single smartphone application. Currently there are a total of 72 service providers, including commercial banks and financial technology comp

MarketJuly 6, 2020

Local fashion house targets W60b IPO despite COVID impact

The Nature Holdings, a lifestyle outdoor firm known for its National Geographic licensed fashion brand, said Monday it is looking to raise as much as 60 billion won ($50.2 million) from its initial public offering on the tech-heavy Kosdaq this month. The firm is offering around 1.2 million shares in the price band of 45,000-50,000 won, CEO Park Young-jun said in a press briefing. The exact share price will be determined Thursday through the book building process before investors can apply on J

MarketJuly 6, 2020

NH NongHyup receives final approval to launch Myanmar branch

South Korea’s NH NongHyup Bank said Monday it has received final approval from Myanmar’s financial authorities to launch and operate a subsidiary in the Southeast Asian country. The announcement comes 10 months after the lender submitted an application to the Central Bank of Myanmar, which handles financial supervisory of state-owned, private and foreign banks in the country. NH NongHyup has been operating a microfinancing institution in Myanmar since 2016 and has worked as a st

MarketJuly 6, 2020

Hyundai Motor to mass-produce hydrogen-powered electric trucks

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it has begun mass-producing hydrogen-powered electric trucks and has sent a batch of shipments -- first in the world -- to Switzerland from Gwangyang Port, South Jeolla Province. Global automakers have produced prototypes or concept models of hydrogen-powered trucks, but Hyundai Motor is the first to mass-produce them.  South Korea’s leading automaker said it will expand the application of hydrogen fuel cell technology to commercial vehicles and ceme

MobilityJuly 6, 2020

Samil PwC names new co-chief

Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, South Korea’s top accounting firm, said Monday it has appointed a new co-representative to take charge of marketing. Partner and deals leader Bae Hwa-joo will serve as chief executive officer for marketing, while Yoon Hoon-soo will head the organization’s overall management. Assurance leader Yoon was named as CEO in April, as competitor Bae offered his resignation in the eleventh hour amid a neck-and-neck rivalry over the top post. The company may app

MarketJuly 6, 2020

Samsung heir vows support for startups

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday vowed support for startups in another on-site visit amid global uncertainties. Lee, the de facto leader of South Korea's top conglomerate, Samsung Group, visited the tech giant's startup incubation center in Suwon, south of Seoul, and encouraged workers at its in-house startup incubation program named C-Lab. C-Lab has offered opportunities for the company's employees to launch startups with their creative ideas since 2012. So far, more

IndustryJuly 6, 2020

Korea's economy to rebound by 3% in 2021: IMF economist

South Korea's economy will likely rebound to grow 3 percent in 2021 after contracting 2.1 percent this year in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, an IMF economist said Monday. Asian countries are expected to post 1.6 percent negative growth for the first time in history as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to weigh on demand and exports, but they will rebound to growth of 6.6 percent next year, Angana Banerji, senior economist at the International Monetary Fund, said in a webinar hosted by t

EconomyJuly 6, 2020

New Audi A4 picked as car of month: KAJA

The Korea Automobile Journalists Association said Monday that it has selected German carmaker Audi’s luxury sedan the New Audi A4 as its car of the month. Every month, the association selects its best model among new vehicles and face-lifted versions that were launched within the past month, based on five criteria including exterior, interior design, practicality, safety and comfort features, product marketability and purchasing intent.  For July, the Lexus UX F Sport, which was la

MobilityJuly 6, 2020

Daewoong to conduct phase 1 trials of stem cell COVID-19 therapy in Indonesia

Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Monday it will carry out phase 1 clinical trials of its COVID-19 stem cell therapy in Indonesia. Its Indonesian arm Daewoong Infion has been conducting research for the efficacy of the pipeline DWP710 (mesenchymal stem cell) for treating the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, jointly with the Indonesian Health Ministry. In the animal tests, Daewoong Infion was able to confirm DWP710’s antiviral effects and the increased rate of survival in animals showing accute

IndustryJuly 6, 2020

SK Telecom starts to terminate 2G services

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top mobile carrier by subscribers, started to shut down its 2G services Monday, following receiving government approval last month to terminate its 25-year-old network. The telecom operator said it has begun switching off its 2G base stations in eight provinces and the central city of Sejong. It will phase out the service in the rest of the country by July 27. The network, launched in 1996, has fallen out of favor over the years with the launch of newer networks,

IndustryJuly 6, 2020

[Monitor] Online shopping surges amid pandemic

South Korea’s online shopping transactions have surged in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak. According to data released by Statistics Korea, online shopping transactions totaled 12.72 trillion won ($10.60 billion) in May, up 13.1 percent from a year earlier. The figure is the second-largest after 12.85 trillion won in November last year. Among the online transactions, mobile shopping transactions stood at 8.69 trillion won, up 21 percent year-on-year. Mobile shopping accounted fo

IndustryJuly 6, 2020

Seoul stocks open tad higher on parliamentary approval of 3rd extra budget

South Korean shares opened slightly higher Monday, following parliamentary approval of the third extra budget meant to support the pandemic-hit economy. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 8.84 points, or 0.41 percent, to 2,161.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The gains came after the National Assembly passed a 35.1 trillion-won ($29.3 billion) extra budget Friday. The supplementary plan is designed to mitigate the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MarketJuly 6, 2020

Hyundai Motor, SK chiefs to discuss EV battery biz next week

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won are expected to meet next week to discuss further cooperation in the electric vehicle battery business, according to industry sources Sunday. The two leaders are likely to meet on Monday or Tuesday at SK Innovation’s EV battery plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, to talk future EV battery partnerships, the sources said. Previously, Chung met with LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo at LG Ch

IndustryJuly 5, 2020

Duty-free shops mull retreat from Incheon airport as int’l passengers dip 98% in Q2

South Korea’s leading duty-free operators are considering an exit from Incheon International Airport as the number of international passengers plunged 97.8 percent on-year in the second quarter. According to Korea Civil Aviation Association Sunday, South Korea’s nine airlines witnessed international flight passengers plummet to 328,345 from 15.2 million people, a 97.8 percent decline on-year, in the second quarter. Korean Air saw a drop of 96.2 percent to 190,458 from 5 million

IndustryJuly 5, 2020

5G smartphone competition to intensify in H2: report

Samsung Electronics may face tougher competition in the global 5G smartphone market starting in the second half this year when Apple launches its new smartphone that supports the fifth generation network, latest report showed Sunday. According to Strategy Analytics’ report, the total 5G smartphone sales this year is expected to reach 234 million devices, accounting around 15 percent of all smartphone sales. The number of 5G-compatible phones sold last year was 18.6 million, it added.

TechnologyJuly 5, 2020

Pandemic raises concerns about food supply disruptions

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, concerns are growing that the nation’s food supply chain may become disrupted if the pandemic is prolonged, adding weight to the calls for establishing a national food procurement system. Last month, United Nations’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said even in countries with abundant food resources, COVID-19 risks disrupting food supply chains. “Our food systems are failing and the COVID-19 pandemic is making things worse,” he said. In

IndustryJuly 5, 2020

Japanese firms in Korea see sales plunge since export curbs

Major Japanese firms doing business here have seen sales plunge as Japan’s export restrictions on Korea led to a boycott of products, the latest data showed Sunday. Local corporate tracker CEOScore compared the business performance of 31 Japanese consumer goods companies here before and after Japan imposed export curbs on Korea in July last year. The comparison found that average revenue fell 6.9 percent and operating profit plunged 71.3 percent last year compared to a year earlier. Th

IndustryJuly 5, 2020

Minimum investment amount for private equity funds forecast to rise

South Korea will likely increase the minimum amount of investment for private equity funds from the current 100 million won ($83,373) to 300 million won as early as next month in its efforts to protect individual investors on the heels of a series of alleged fraud cases linked to funds in South Korea, according to news reports on Sunday. The Ministry of Government Legislation has been reviewing the measure, which will be included in the planned revisions of the nation’s Financial Investm

MarketJuly 5, 2020

[Management in Korea] Relying on TRUST to battle health crisis and reform economy

Management in Korea is a regular column written by the members of Egon Zehnder Seoul, touching on various aspects of Korean enterprises and business leaders and offering management tips. -- Ed. While nations around the world implemented strict lockdowns and quarantine measures, South Korea largely remained open, despite initially being one of the worst-hit countries outside of China. Rather than locking down parts of the country and closing borders, leaders in South Korea opted for a differen

IndustryJuly 5, 2020

SK Telecom launches big data-based restaurant finding app

SK Telecom has launched an application that provides recommendations for restaurants by using big data analysis, the company said Sunday. The newly launched app uses big data compiled by the telecommunications firm’s mobile navigation service Tmap. According to the company, the number of users of the navigation services has reached 18 million, and it has some 1.8 billion points of data indicating restaurant visits over the past five years. SK Telecom noted that the new application util

TechnologyJuly 5, 2020